Chugging along

That’s my two words of the day/month/year to describe what it has been like with the Renault Kwid, these last few months. As bland as it sounds, it is not a bad thing at all as that is what is expected of an economy city car- maximum reliability with little or no drama at all. We’ve pushed it through rigors of city life, had some fun with it and even done a deep dive into the interiors and practicality. Well now, here is what it is like out on the highway.

Getting there (a bit slowly)

As we have said before, this AMT (Easy-R in Renault parlance) spec Kwid is powered by a 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine outputting a rather modest 67bhp/91Nm and is mated to a five-speed box. It is not a lot but then again the Kwid is quite light, even in this AMT guise, thus putting it in the feather weight category. This has given it a 0-100kmph time of 16.5 seconds and 8.8 seconds for the 20-80kmph sprint as well as 12.4 seconds for the 40-100kmph sprint.

Momentum is the key

Out on the highway, the Kwid will do three digit speeds and let you stay there but it is a process that needs planning to get there and some more if you slow down and need to go back. The AMT is geared shortly and you are more or less in fifth gear for a large part of the journey to the 100kmph mark. There is no manual mode for the AMT and thus you have to rely heavily on the brakes to slow you down whatever be the scenario.

The ride quality is on the softer side which is excellent at lower speeds and for tackling even the most vicious of imperfections/pot holes/bumps but in turn, it has affected the handling. To keep the momentum consistent, it is better to brake early and let the car glide through the turns rather than attacking a corner.

What’s more the steering is numb, offering very little in terms of feedback thus giving even more weight to the idea of planning in advance when tackling corners of any kind. Another oddity of the AMT set up is that the gearbox, with no option for manual intervention, has a tendency to change gears mid-turn upsetting the balance of the car at a crucial point in the driving process. Finally, a fully loaded Kwid AMT needs momentum to climb up a slope though the creep function does manage to provide some holding power if you have to get going on hill/slope.

Detailed intrument cluster

Being an economy car, one of the major boons is a detailed instrument cluster. It is a fully digital one with large fonts and bright colours making it easy to read while on the go. However, the button to change modes on the display is oddly postioned can be a bit of a challege to reach behind the steering wheel.

In terms of what's on offer, when you run a car on a tight budget, its always good to be aware of your performance and the kwid offers that in spades. You get distance to empty, trip meters, odometre as well kilometers covered per hour. These might be small details but they go a long way in help you keep costs under control.

Vehicle log

Odo: 3153km

Kms this month: 300

Kmpl: 12.5kmpl

Photos: Kaustubh Gandhi

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